SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) said they estimated a total timber resource impact of $1.28 billion from Hurricane Helene on Thursday.
The commission said that they are conservatively estimating this number after Helene traversed 8.9 million acres of Georgia forestland. GFC also said that they are working with state and federal partners to determine what resources might be available for impacted landowners.
In 2023, when Hurricane Idalia hit Georgia, a total of 6.59 million acres of acres were in the storm path, but only 116,526 acres were impacted.
The GFC said that of the 116,526 acres impacted, 11,069 acres were damaged, causing $9.26 million in timber losses.